


No Plan

by amaira



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Ableism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bromance, Coffee Shops, Disabled Character, F/M, Happy Ending, How Do I Tag, Post-Canon, Raihan and Leon give each other so much shit, Romantic Fluff, Secret Identity, the Gym Challenge really isn't that friendly to people who aren't able-bodied
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:20:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22111738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amaira/pseuds/amaira
Summary: After defeating Spikemuth Gym, Gloria disappears. She never finishes the Gym Challenge. She never becomes Champion.Seven years later, Raihan stumbles upon a Battle Cafe in Wyndon, and finds himself impressed by and oddly drawn to its strongest Trainer, Lori.(A story of falling in love, in three parts.)
Relationships: Dande | Leon & Kibana | Raihan, Kibana | Raihan/Yuuri | Gloria
Comments: 25
Kudos: 177





	No Plan

Raihan was bored.

Not bored in that exact moment – except kind of also bored in that moment, to be honest – but bored with life.

Hop was Champion. He and Leon had traded off that title at least three times in the past six years. Raihan had never been part of that mix. Of course, he was still the strongest Gym Leader in Galar, still the last stop on the Gym Challenge, still the most popular on social media, but... nothing had changed.

He needed a _change_.

He slumped in the middle of his couch, mindlessly flipping through random movies on his TV. Rotom had been helpful enough to suggest some, but none of them caught his eye this morning.

The flannel of his lounge pants bunched up by his hips, and he shuffled around to dislodge it, fumbling the remote in the process. He fumbled it again as he picked it up, and the cursor on the TV landed on a documentary-adjacent series – Where Are They Now? Promising Trainers Who Never Completed the Gym Challenge. He groaned. This was what he had been reduced to after a week of vacation? Picking sweaty fabric out of his crotch and watching mindless television?

Not that sitting around while Hammerlocke Stadium underwent its regular historical restoration work was a vacation, but... maybe Leon had ideas. He always seemed to find things to do.

Rotom jumped into his phone and jumped his phone into his hand before he could even reach for it.

“You’re the best,” he mumbled. Rotom chirped with satisfaction.

To: Leon  
I’m bored out of my fucking mind please have some kind of idea so I don’t die here

He had already shopped all the shops he liked. He had already posted cool photos of the Wild Area on his Gym Leader profile and a borderline thirst trap on his personal one. He had even gone to meet the families of his Trainers.

And then he’d sat on his arse for two days.

This wasn’t like him! He had always been on the go, happy and cheerful and busy.

From: Leon  
What kind of idea? Like, restaurants or training or....

To: Leon  
Hell, both? I think I’m stuck in a rut or something.

From: Leon  
How quickly can you get to Wyndon?

To: Leon  
I’m not doing your battle tower bullshit

From: Leon  
Whatever shithead, I wasn’t suggesting it in the first place. There’s tons of restaurants here for all the tourists, and you can crash at my place.

To: Leon  
Cool thanks mate

From: Leon  
Anyway I won’t know if you do hit up the Battle Tower, so send me a selfie of you getting your arse kicked by everyone else so I know you’ve arrived.

To: Leon  
Why don’t you go jump mouth first into a pit full of dicks

Three hours later, Raihan stood and glowered up at the Battle Tower. He was nothing if not a horrible fucking sucker for Leon’s bullshit. Rotom hovered in front of him, capturing a truly grumpy selfie. Raihan was proud.

To: Leon  
[image]  
I’m here bitch

From: Leon  
hahaha  
Be right down

To: Leon  
Yeah it’s a straight drop so I can’t see even you getting lost

Leon didn’t reply to that, and five minutes later was strutting out of the Battle Tower with a goofy grin on his face. “I didn’t think you’d come!” he shouted.

Raihan grinned and held his arms open. “Had to lower my standards eventually!”

Leon laughed and yanked Raihan in for a quick, brutal hug. They slapped each other’s backs hard enough to bruise, and then pushed each other away.

“You’ve been sitting on your arse moping, haven’t you,” Leon said, tutting and shaking his head.

Raihan shrugged. “Nothing to do in Hammerlocke lately.”

“Yeah, sure. Not like it’s the biggest city in Galar or anything.”

Raihan rolled his eyes, and so did Leon. And then Leon dragged him away from the Battle Tower.

“Come on, mate, let’s go have a good time.”

Like it or not, Raihan had to admit that Leon did know how to have fun. They made the day of some kids playing in the park, even letting them pet their Pokemon. How many kids could say they got to touch Raihan’s Duraludon or Leon’s Charizard? Then Leon took him to a damn good Kalosian coffee shop, which served the only coffee Raihan had ever tried that didn’t make him gag. They followed that up with a tour of the Battle Tower – again, he was a complete sucker – and he was actually impressed with what Leon had done.

Leon beamed when Raihan said as much. “Yeah, it was... it was weird, sitting in Rose’s office and trying to figure out how to make it... not his office.”

“Not that I ever met that tosser outside of Hammerlocke, but you did a decent enough job of removing his taint from this place.”

“Can’t believe it took seven years to get you to see it, though.”

Raihan shrugged. He had goals, and the Battle Tower was a distraction from them. Leon seemed to know this as well; there had never been any bad blood between them over it.

“You’re meeting up with Hop soon, right?” he asked.

Leon paled. “Yeah! Yeah, in like... twenty minutes. Shit, almost forgot. I’ll let you know when I’m done if you still want to crash at my place.”

“Sure.”

They rode the giant elevator down to the main floor.

“There’s a pretty trendy strip of shops on the west end of town,” Leon said, pulling up a map on his phone. “Seems like it’d be your thing.”

Raihan slung an arm around Leon’s shoulder and picked at his fluffy neck-scarf-thing. “Trendy? Then it’s definitely not _your_ thing.”

“Do you even own pants that aren’t gym shorts?”

“At least I own clothes, not costumes.”

“Your hoodie begs to differ.”

They shoved at each other like brawling children, only stopping when Hop, appearing out of nowhere, gave them a long-suffering sigh.

“Really, Raihan? Lee’s going to be a menace all night.”

“Sucks to be you!” Raihan called, cackling as Hop groaned and Leon grinned like a fool. “See you later, Leeeeee!”

It didn’t take long for him to find the trendy shops Leon told him about. Even the street outside was filled with the thump of bass-heavy music pumped through hidden speakers.

The salon was full of high-fashion trendsetters. The boutique was a bit more punk than Raihan was into, though he certainly would look good in it. He shrugged and passed by them both, dipping into a cafe to grab a drink and a snack.

The tile floor was clean and bright, and the wood tables had a nice, homey feel about them. This was the kind of cafe where he could find a good cup of tea and real scones.

Instead, he found a Pokemon battle. The center of the cafe had lines painted over the tile like a miniature version of a stadium battlefield, with scorch marks and scratches and a few conspicuously new tiles in the middle.

The young man behind the counter commanded his Alcremie well, and lost gracefully to his opponent’s Toxtricity. Then he spotted Raihan, and dropped both Alcremie’s Pokeball and the drink he’d made.

“You’re – you’re Leader Raihan!” he stammered. “I can’t believe this!”

A few customers turned to face him, including the one whose drink was now a puddle on the floor.

Raihan smiled. “Yeah, uh, I’m here for a tea but it seems you offer battles as well?”

The idea was interesting enough. The barista took a step to the side, then back, then forward again, then bolted for the door to the back. “I – uh – let me grab my manager? I’ll be right back!”

... Okay then.

Raihan could barely make out some kind of frantic conversation in the back room. A minute later, the barista returned with an older man, probably middle-aged, wearing a button-up shirt and a vest instead of the barista’s uniform of a polo and an apron.

“This is quite an honor!” The manager extended his hand to Raihan, who shook it automatically. “I can’t say we’ve ever had a Gym Leader in here! And you were looking for a battle, too?”

He shrugged. “I wouldn’t be opposed, I guess, if your employee is up for it.”

The barista shook his head and held his hands up, mouthing NO as clearly as he could without attracting the manager’s attention.

The manager sighed. “Do you mind waiting for a few minutes? I’d have to call in Lori – she’s the only battler we have who could hold up to a Gym Leader.”

That was... kind of mean. The barista honestly wasn’t that bad, and Raihan was hardly going to stomp the kid just to be a jerk. But he agreed to wait, and settled in at a corner table with his tea and a muffin... and shamelessly eavesdropped on the manager’s side of the phone call.

“Yeah, I need you to come in right now .... I don’t care that it’s your day off! There are important people in the cafe! .... You better be here in the next five minutes or – .... No, you know the rules. They stay in the back. .... Fine! Ten minutes then.”

What a piece of shit. Raihan sipped his tea and frowned. Maybe he could say he had to go, and the poor employee would get to stay home.

The manager approached, apparently done being a dick to his employee over the phone, and gave Raihan a simpering smile. “I am very sorry for the wait. She should be here in the next ten minutes.”

Raihan tried not to scowl, slowly succeeding in putting his polite, public-relations grin on his face. “It’s not a problem at all! I’m pleasantly surprised by the whole thing, really.”

That worked, and the manager scampered off to... probably menace the barista. _Important people in the cafe_. What a horrible attitude.

Five minutes became ten, then twelve, and then a young woman emerged from the back, looking very frazzled and barely put together. As soon as she set eyes on him, she blanched so much he expected her to collapse. He had thought she might be surprised, but not like this. After a moment of staring at him in utter terror, she shook her head and took a step forward. She was tall, lanky, but in a charming sort of unbalanced way. Her hair had been pulled back in a sloppy twist, and her shirt had more wrinkles than not and hung off her left shoulder and –

“I’m – very sorry for the wait,” she said, in a rush, as she hobbled towards his table, steadying herself on the backs of the chairs as she passed. Was she... was she sick? Was she injured? Did this awful manager seriously just call in an employee on medical leave?

He stood to meet her and offered his hand. “No, it’s nothing to apologize for at all. I’m sorry you got called in on your day off on my behalf.”

She studied him for a moment, then shrugged. “Nature of the gig, you know? I’m Lori. It’s my job to handle the stronger Trainers.”

Raihan nodded. The cafe probably got a lot of highly-ranked Trainers around here, with Wyndon Stadium just a mile away, and the Battle Tower not much farther past that.

“So,” Lori continued, “what were you looking for?”

Raihan had no idea how to answer. “Um.”

She frowned. “I can do double battles or single battles, with up to three Pokemon for each Trainer’s team.” She tilted her head at him. “There are some restrictions, though. No weather effects or Dynamax, since we don’t have the space to properly handle that. And can I personally request that any selfies you take don’t include me in them?”

So she was familiar with him and his battle style. Not bad.

“I can agree to that. Single battle, three Pokemon each?”

It would be a good way to gauge her skill. Raihan shook his head to clear it; he was thinking of her like a Gym Challenger, when he was the one challenging her at her place of employment. He’d go easy on her.

Raihan took his position near the center of the marked area, turned and took two steps away from it, and turned back.

He blinked a few times. Lori had done the same. She must have had some formal battling experience; the true amateurs who had never battled in a stadium never took those two steps. She lifted the hem of her shirt just enough to grab a Pokeball from her belt – a belt with six Pokeballs on it. Did she have a full competitive team?

Turtonator’s Pokeball vibrated in his hand. Raihan crouched and nodded to Lori, flinging the Pokeball forward. Turtonator burst out with a roar.

Lori simply opened hers at her side, revealing a Chandelure.

Huh. Interesting choice to lead with. Its physical attack was usually abysmal, so it would probably be using ranged special attacks, making Shell Trap useless –

“Shadow Ball.”

“Dragon Pulse!”

Both Pokemon took the hits: Chandelure barely made a sound, while Turtonator stumbled back. Raihan’s breath caught in his chest. Lori’s Chandelure hit _hard_.

He wasn’t battling an amateur at all; if the rest of Lori’s team were as strong as her Chandelure, she was easily on the same level as the Trainers who competed in the Gym Challenge finals and Champion’s Cup tournaments.

Turtonator fired off another Dragon Pulse; Chandelure endured it, and blasted with a Dark Pulse in return. They traded a few more attacks, until Raihan remembered –

“Heat Crash!”

Chandelure were lightweight, so it should do some damage even with a resistance to fire. Turtonator slammed into Chandelure, hard. But Chandelure absorbed the attack, glowing a bright red for a moment and showing no other reaction.

Raihan gaped. “What the hell?”

Lori glanced at her manager, then back at Raihan. “Flash Fire. It’s... not common in Chandelure.”

Turtonator whined. He was in rough shape, and Raihan had to end this quickly.

“Draco Meteor!”

Was that overkill for an indoor battle? Who cared! Certainly not him.

Lori glowered. “Shadow Ball!”

The center of the cafe lit up with a bright explosion, then fogged with a cloud of smoke. Powerful ventilation on the ceiling cleared it up in moments; Turtonator sat, hunched over and exhausted, too battered to continue fighting. Chandelure floated by Lori’s head, looking as smug as a nearly faceless ball could, though its limbs didn’t have their usual tight curl.

Raihan withdrew his Pokemon, and Lori did the same, even though Chandelure probably could have kept going.

Next up was Flygon. He was tough and versatile; he should be able to handle whatever Lori sent out.

“You got this, Roserade,” she murmured. Roserade appeared at her side.

“Go! Breaking Swipe! Earthquake!”

Flygon rushed forward, spinning and knocking Roserade over with his tail. It leapt to its feet, blasting Flygon back with a Sludge Bomb – interesting choice, not that effective – and following up with Dazzling Gleam before Flygon could get solid enough footing to use Earthquake.

“Shit,” Raihan hissed. He had not been prepared for this.

Flygon fired off Earthquake, rattling the cups behind the counter; Roserade stood steady and raised its arms, looking back to Lori expectantly.

She nodded. “Petal Dance.”

He hissed to himself again. That was an all-in move that would deal heavy damage but leave Roserade all but useless in battle after it was done; Flygon attacked a few more times, a mix of Breaking Swipe and Earthquake and one Crunch, but Roserade endured and continued the dance. Eventually, the storm of petals overwhelmed Flygon, and he went down. Roserade stumbled and took a knee.

“Wow,” Raihan whispered. Lori was something else entirely, and he was impressed.

“One left,” she said, glancing back at her manager again, as she recalled Roserade. “You ready?”

Raihan’s lip curled up, showing a hint of teeth. “Are you?”

He sent out Duraludon; she sent out Dragapult.

Wow. To have raised a Dragapult showed... a lot of skill, a lot of discipline. Raihan bit his lip; he might actually lose this.

Dragapult attacked hard with a Flamethrower. Duraludon retaliated with Dragon Claw; that did quite some damage, so Raihan ordered it again. Duraludon tried, then stumbled, flailing its arm without any effect.

He’d get an answer later. “Stone Edge! Hit it hard!”

It didn’t do much. Dragapult kept up a steady stream of Flamethrower and Shadow Ball, chipping away at Duraludon like it was nothing; finally, Duraludon roared and swiped with Dragon Claw again, and Dragapult tumbled backwards.

“You back to normal now?” Raihan asked. Duraludon roared again. “Keep at it!”

“Dragon Darts! Get it in the eyes!”

Two tiny Dreepy launched out of Dragapult’s horns, bouncing off Duraludon with a tinny thud. Dragapult followed with Phantom Force, which... didn’t hit hard at all. Raihan’s brows furrowed. Why hadn’t Lori ordered another Shadow Ball?

Whatever; Duraludon roared and gave one final swipe of his claws, and Dragapult went down.

.... Easy.

Something twinged at the back of Raihan’s mind as Lori graciously conceded and limped forward to shake his hand. Her Pokemon had kept up with his without any struggle whatsoever. And then they had... lost?... in simple, easy ways.

“That was great,” she said, a shy, polite smile on her face. “Your Duraludon is just as impressive as its reputation.”

“Well, I can’t say the same because I didn’t know about you before... half an hour ago,” he said, beaming as her smile shifted to look a little more genuine, “but this was great. You’re a really skilled Trainer.”

Skilled enough that she probably could have stomped him, had she tried to. Why hadn’t she tried to? Why had she withdrawn her Chandelure even though it was in good shape? Why had she called for Petal Dance so early instead of using Dazzling Gleam again? Why had she switched to primarily physical attacks against Duraludon’s powerful physical defense, when she had been fast on her way to winning with Dragapult’s special attacks? Why hadn’t she brought Chandelure back out at the end when it was still fit to battle?

“What days are you usually here?” he asked – blurted, more like.

Her eyes widened. “Um... Saturday through Tuesday.”

“Great. I’ll try to be back before I leave town, then.”

“Oh. Wow, that’s – you don’t have to, you know,” she murmured, quiet enough that her manager couldn’t hear.

“I’d like to,” he said. “Maybe have a rematch.”

Lori nodded. “Of course. That would be great.”

Her voice was flat; her heart wasn’t in it. But why not? She was a truly powerful Trainer, and if she was anything like him, a good battle should make her day.

And he would be back, because she must have thrown that match on purpose, and he couldn’t understand it.

*****

Leon was a good guy, generous enough to supply some pillows and a blanket for Raihan to crash on the couch.

This couch, though. This couch was amazing. This couch was Raihan’s best friend, soft and cushy and long enough for him to stretch out, and –

“You’re moping,” Leon stated.

“No, ‘m not,” Raihan mumbled into the pillow. He could feel Leon raise an eyebrow in judgement, and sighed. “Okay, maybe a little.”

Leon thumped another pillow over the back of his head. “Well quit it. No moping in my flat.”

“Hey.” Raihan shoved the pillows away and sat up. “You mope here every time Hop beats you.”

“Fine. It’s my flat, so only I can mope here.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

Leon frowned at that. “What’s bugging you, mate? Girl troubles?”

“Eh, not exactly?”

“Boy troubles?” Leon sat on the couch next to him.

“No, it’s just...” Raihan trailed off, waving his hand. How could he even begin to explain why he was upset when he wasn’t sure himself? “I found this cafe today. Calls itself the Battle Cafe.”

Leon perked up. “I’ve heard of it. Some of the Trainers from the Tower go there on occasion. Supposedly there’s a really tough Trainer on staff that they can only barely beat.”

“Well, yeah, that’s just it. Do they ever lose? Do they ever win decisively, or is it always close?” His hands curled into fists. “She should have beaten me, but she didn’t. I don’t get it.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Leon grabbed Raihan’s shoulder and shook it.

“Raihan. Mate. I’ve never seen you upset at winning before.”

“Leon. Mate. Be honest, okay? How much of a skill difference is there between me and the average Trainer in the Battle Tower?”

“Criticizing my job?” Leon huffed and pouted. “You’re a level above almost all of them, and thanks for making me say that, arse.”

Raihan shook his head and slumped over, hiding his face in his hands. He sighed, then dragged his hands away, looking up at the ceiling. “It’s not that. So if they battled someone who should have beat me but who pulled their punches, or even someone who barely lost to me even if they were trying their best, then... they’d lose, right?”

“They’d get wrecked.”

“But if she always loses, and she always does so intentionally...”

Leon’s eyes lit up. “Why does she?”

“Yeah. Exactly. Which is why I’m going back there. Now let’s watch some trash TV.”

*****

Saturday morning couldn’t have come fast enough, and when it finally did, Raihan woke bright and early and took over Leon’s shower for so long that his best friend scowled at him when he emerged.

“Better not have been wanking in there,” he muttered.

He hadn’t been.

Instead, he’d spent at least twice as long as usual making sure he looked presentable, attractive even, all to go see a woman he’d met for about twenty minutes while her Pokemon made his look like amateurs before she inexplicably lost the battle.

It didn’t make much sense to him, but it was a damn sight better than bumming around Hammerlocke feeling sorry for himself because he couldn’t train in the stadium.

The weather was cooler than Thursday’s, and Raihan all but ran to the cafe. The chime on the door jingled as he pulled it open.

It was crowded today, with the young man from Thursday and an older woman working the counter, while another younger woman ran battles in the middle of the cafe. Lori was nowhere to be seen. Was he too early?

He stuffed his hands in his hoodie pocket and strode up to the counter, smiling through the baristas’ stammering as they welcomed him.

“What – ah – what can we get for you today, Mr. Raihan?” the young man asked.

He looked up at the menu. Their Galar Breakfast tea had been pretty good, but he was in the mood for something else. “What’s the base of your bergamot tea?”

“Uh... ceylon, I think?”

“Great. Can I get a large Wyndon Fog? Easy on the syrup.” He glanced between the baristas. “And I was hoping to see Lori, if she’s working.”

The older woman shook her head. “She’s not up to battling today.”

“Oh. Oh.” A pang rushed through Raihan’s chest. So she had been called in while she was sick, and had to miss work because of it. “Of course, I understand. Will you let her know I stopped by, in case she’s not feeling better before I go back to Hammerlocke?”

They both agreed that they would, and Raihan took a seat at a corner table and watched the battles while he waited for his tea.

This barista was pretty good, too, with her Milcery and Sinistea working well together in double battles, first against a Yamper and Corvisquire team, and then against a Flareon and Growlithe team. She would make a good Gym Trainer, with the ability to coordinate like that and adapt to different opponents.

“I didn’t expect you to come back,” Lori said.

Raihan’s head snapped up. Lori! Wait, Lori? He’d been so focused on the Pokemon that he hadn’t noticed her. She had his tea in one hand, and the back of a chair in a white-knuckled grip in the other. Her hair was pulled back into a clean, flattering tuck, and she was wearing a tight athletic top that clung to her chest and showed off every line of muscle across her shoulders and down her arms.

“I thought you were out today,” he said, taking his tea from her. Did they call her in again? What the actual –

“No, just on dish duty in the back.” Her fingers twitched.

He gestured to the chair. “Got a moment to join me?” he asked.

She lowered herself into the chair slowly, and Raihan couldn’t tear his eyes from the flex of her triceps and deltoids as they braced her weight – she was _cut_.

She folded her hands on the table. “So, you wanted to see me?”

He gave her what he hoped was a charming smile. “I had been hoping for another battle, but that’s not in the cards today, I heard.”

“Nope.” She shifted and watched the barista and customer shake hands. “Not today.”

“Must take a lot of focus to convincingly throw a battle you could easily win.”

Her head snapped back so quickly that his neck ached in sympathy. “You could tell?” She shook her head and sighed. “I should have figured a Gym Leader would notice _that_ , at least.”

He laced his fingers together around the mug, sipping his drink quietly. It was alright; still more syrup than he liked, but the tea base was good enough.

Lori’s eyes flicked down at the table, at her own empty hands.

“Want me to get you something?” Raihan asked, like he was buying a drink for a date, when really she was just a fierce Trainer who was also cute, and –

That’s what this was, wasn’t it? He had gone so long without being attracted to someone that he didn’t even recognize the feeling. No wonder he’d been so off-balance the last couple days.

A quiet laugh escaped her. “I work here. I can get anything I want.”

He let his head drop. Amateur hour!

“But thank you,” she added.

They sat in silence for a few moments.

“So... why did you throw the match?” Raihan asked.

She shrugged with one shoulder. His eyes tracked that shoulder like lasers. Creepy lasers. Dear fucking hell, he was being a creep.

“Have you seen any of us win a battle? It’s the job. Keeps the customers happy, thinking they beat someone tough, so keeps them coming back. Or something.”

“Really.”

She gave him a piercing look that he definitely wasn’t committing to memory. “Isn’t that what brought you back?”

“I was more indignant than anything else,” he said. “You should have won, and I knew it.”

She laughed softly, and he definitely wasn’t committing that sound to memory either.

“Hey! Hey you,” someone yelled from across the cafe. He was young and skinny, and leaned so far out of his chair that he had to hold onto the table. His friend eyed their teacups worriedly. “Up for a rematch? Think you can beat me this time?”

They were two of the Trainers Raihan had seen at the Battle Tower on Thursday.

Lori shook her head and gave them a polite smile. “No, I’m sorry. I’m not battling today.” She turned to Raihan and shrugged. “I should probably get back to work. Karen is understanding but the manager is more strict.”

“Aw, come on!” the interrupter shouted again.

Raihan stood, staring him down for a second, before offering a hand to Lori and helping her to her feet. “Well, I’m glad I got to see you again, even if it didn’t involve a battle. Look me up if you’re ever in Hammerlocke, alright?”

She opened her mouth to answer, but her left leg seemed to give out on her, and she lurched to the side. Raihan caught her, barely, yanking her against his chest in a very graceless maneuver.

“Ah, shit,” she mumbled.

“You sure you’re okay to work?” He patted her back. “I can walk you home if you need me to.”

She bit her lip and shook her head. “No, it’s okay. This is normal. I can manage. But you can probably guess why I’m not battling up front here.” She looked up at him, and his breath caught in his chest. Her eyes looked so... familiar. “How much longer are you in Wyndon? Can you come by on Monday? If... if you wanted that battle, that is.”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, sure. Wouldn’t miss it.”

Lori did let him walk with her to the back room. He tried not to linger as she slipped through the door, and tried not to grin like a schoolboy when she glanced back at him and gave him a tiny wave.

He’d be back Monday if he had to rearrange his life to make it happen.

*****

Sunday brought with it more trashy TV, with Raihan suggesting that awful tabloid-y documentary series he’d spied just before coming to Wyndon. Four episodes in, they were sprawled all over each other on the couch, hooked on watching people speculate wildly – and incorrectly – about Trainers who dropped out of the Gym Challenge.

“Teddy didn’t mysteriously vanish,” Leon grumbled through a mouthful of popcorn as the episode wrapped up. “He works the front desk at the Battle Tower now. Who’s up next?”

Episode Five had ten times as many views as the previous ones, and Raihan could guess why when he read the title.

Challenger 113, Gloria: The Champion’s Shadow

Leon’s head sunk deeper into Raihan’s abdomen. “Let’s skip this one, mate,” he said, choking up. “I remember it. They were awful about making it. Never left us alone with their questions.”

Gloria was an open wound for Leon and Hop, to the point where they would stand up and walk out of any interview that asked about her. She had been Hop’s childhood best friend, his Gym Challenge rival, and was becoming a good friend to Leon, too, until she actually did mysteriously vanish just before the finals. She had reappeared for the whole mess with Eternatus, come riding in to save the day on the back of Zacian, and then was gone once more.

Most people seemed to suspect that Hop and Leon still kept in touch with her, when the reality was that they hadn’t spoken with her since maybe a month after the Darkest Day scandal.

It had become one of those unspoken rules of their friendship: no one talks about Gloria.

Raihan had only met her once, briefly. She was a cute kid, bright and energetic. He had followed her performance through the Gyms and was expecting her any day after she stomped all over Spikemuth Gym, but that day never came.

A few years ago, a very wasted Hop had confessed that he was pretty sure Gloria had died, and even if she hadn’t, he was never going to see her again.

He patted Leon’s shoulder. “Yeah, alright.”

And he selected Episode Six.

*****

Monday during lunch rush was a disaster on the streets of Wyndon, as all the office workers escaped their cubicles and sought out food and fresh air, and as Raihan and Leon tried to make their way through the throng of people.

“Definitely girl troubles, if she’s got you this antsy to see her,” Leon mused.

“Man, fuck off once in a while,” Raihan grumbled. “She asked me to come back.”

The Battle Cafe was only a few blocks away, but those few blocks felt like miles.

“So, she’s got a competitive team,” Leon started, waving at Raihan for him to confirm or deny.

“From what I can tell? I’ve only seen three of them.” He angled sideways to squeeze between two people. “Her Chandelure is an absolute beast. Even Draco Meteor could barely touch it. And she has a Roserade and a Dragapult. If the rest of her team is as tough as those three, she could probably beat you or Hop.”

“Shit, really?” Leon frowned. “Dragapult are rare.”

“Don’t need to tell me that, mate, even I don’t have one.”

Leon’s mouth stretched into a grin. “A true embarrassment for the _Master of Dragons_.”

Raihan stopped and crossed his arms, staring at Leon until he started to squirm.

“Okay, okay,” he mumbled. “So what’s your grand plan here?”

They resumed walking while Raihan mulled over his ideas. He could see if she wanted to transfer to the Battle Cafe in Hammerlocke – he’d looked it up the previous night, and it was apparently a chain of cafes, and he was personally offended that he’d never heard of it before. In theory, the manager at that one would be less shitty, and then she would be much more conveniently located.

But even that would be a waste for a Trainer as talented as she was. So that left him with his other idea: endorsing her for the Gym Challenge.

“I dunno, mate,” he said. “No real plan.”

A block from the cafe, Leon’s phone started blowing up with texts. He fished it out of his pocket and sighed, then lit up with joy. “Mum’s in town!” He turned big, pleading eyes on Raihan, who was still a sucker. “I know you wanted me to meet this girl, but... Mum wants to get lunch.”

Raihan slung an arm over Leon’s shoulder. “Get lunch with her, then. You can meet Lori some other time. But first?”

Rotom hovered in front of them. Leon returned the half-embrace, smiling for the selfie, promising not to flake out the next time, then set off to... probably get lost.

That would be a good post though.

@raihan  
[image]  
Farewell, sweet friend. I’ll see you next month when you’ve finally found your way home in the city where you’ve lived for eleven years. #directionallychallenged @leon-official

Raihan would hear about it later. Right now, he had a Pokemon battle to attend to.

Walking into the Battle Cafe was like walking into a war zone. A couple families with young kids had taken over what Raihan had apparently come to think of as his side of the cafe; the younger children let out piercing shrieks of amusement while two of the older kids chased them around brandishing what looked like crutches.

The other customers had clustered in the far end of the shop. No one was battling today. And once again, Lori was nowhere to be seen. The older woman from Saturday beckoned Raihan to the counter.

“Thank the stars you’re here,” she said.

“Um...”

Her voice dropped to a hiss. “Those kids over there,” she said, discreetly jabbing a finger in the direction of the children, “stole Lori’s crutches, and Richard won’t let her take them back.”

Raihan was gobsmacked. “But they’re hers.”

“She’s not allowed to have them in the front of the cafe, and if she takes them back then she’ll ‘have them in the front of the cafe,’ and she’ll be fired.”

There was way too much to unpack in that statement. Raihan shook his head, straightened his hoodie, and marched over to the rampaging children. His relative celebrity status worked in his favor; the kids swarmed around him like flies. The parents were still too absorbed in their conversations to notice.

“Leader Raihan! Leader Raihan!” They shouted his name and title and bounced around him. How did children have this much energy? Crazy.

He crouched, looking the tallest kid in the eye, reaching over and grabbing the crutch from his tiny hands. “I know who this belongs to, and I’m disappointed that you would take something that isn’t yours. It’s wrong to steal.”

“But they were up against the wall,” said the other kid with a crutch, clutching it close to her chest. “We didn’t steal them. They were just there!”

Raihan shook his head. “They were there because someone brought them. You’re old enough to know better. You’re also old enough to know why people need crutches. Stealing them means someone might not be able to walk.” He held out his hand expectantly. When the kid took a step back, he growled, “Give me the crutch.”

She dropped it instead, and the kids screeched and scampered off to the corner, hiding behind their parents’ tables. Raihan shook his head again, walking right up to the parents and thumping his hand on the nearest table with... a little more force than necessary. They all jerked back, looking up at him in shock.

With his height and his build, and the snaggletooth fang that showed every time he opened his mouth, Raihan knew he could be intimidating. He usually did everything he could to mitigate that: smiling with his mouth closed, keeping a relaxed posture, leaning back from people so they didn’t feel crowded or like he was looming over them.

He didn’t do any of that now.

“Thought you should know that, while you were too busy not parenting your children, your precious darlings stole someone’s crutches and were running around the shop with them. Watch your damn kids.”

He didn’t wait for a response, mostly because he knew any response would bring his blood ever closer to boiling. Instead, he turned on his heel and walked straight to the back. Someone from the chill side of the cafe whooped, and he gave a small wave in that direction before pushing open the back room door.

The back was crowded and small. Stacks of boxes next to a sink on one side of the room bore the logos of various tea and coffee merchants, while a wood workbench stretched the length of the wall on the other. He passed a door that might have been an office or a coat closet. Two more sinks took up the back wall next to a refrigerator.

“Lori?”

Silence – well, the back room wasn’t exactly silent, with all the noise from appliances and a door opening and –

“Raihan?”

He turned around. Lori’s head poked out of the office. He held up the crutches, and her entire body slumped in relief. She sighed, making grabby-hands at him. He hurried to her side and handed the crutches to her one at a time. She slipped her arms through the loops, flexing her fingers around the grips.

Then she stopped, really froze in place, and looked up at him, brows drawn together. She looked exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes, and downward creases at the corners of her mouth.

“How did you know these were mine?”

“The, uh....” He made an aborted gesture towards the front of the cafe, as if he could point through the wall. “Your coworker,” he mumbled, feeling like an idiot. “She also said your boss would fire you for having the crutches in the cafe area.”

“Yep.” She moved through the back room quickly with her crutches, much smoother and more at ease than he’d ever seen her up front. “Doesn’t fit the image he wants for the cafe.” She turned to him, a methodical shuffling motion, and shrugged.

“What about the Gym Challenge?”

Lori frowned. “What does that have to do with my boss?”

“No, it doesn’t, I just – I would endorse you, if you wanted to try it.” His heart thudded as the words left his mouth. He would. He so would. He wanted to beg her to say yes, that she’d do it. He was exactly the kind of reckless that would throw himself into it wholeheartedly, and support her along every step of the way just to watch her shine, when he barely even knew her.

“I’m not exactly the traditional Trainer type.”

Raihan opened his mouth to protest, but Lori raised one hand – and the crutch attached to it – to silence him.

“When you think of a powerful, skilled Trainer, what’s the image that pops into your head?” She cocked her head to the side. “Someone young, fit, full of energy, who goes out and trains themselves along with their Pokemon?”

He sighed. “Well, yes, I suppose. It doesn’t have to be that way, though.”

She shook her head at him, like he was naive. “It does, though. The entire Gym Challenge is structured to make it that way. Herding Wooloo up a long, soft, grassy pitch? Running across a metal grate while solving Nessa’s water puzzle? Can’t do those with crutches. Even the little bumper car for Bea’s gym or the sand traps for Gordie’s – that shit makes you sore even when you don’t have a bum hip. Fall the wrong way when you do, and you aren’t walking out of there.”

Her eyes were lost, unfocused, stuck on some faraway memory.

“You’ve already done the Gym Challenge, then,” Raihan said.

“Hm?” She blinked a few times. “Yeah. I have.”

“I would have remembered you.”

A laugh bubbled up out of her, and she dropped her head, letting it swing back and forth. “No, you wouldn’t.”

He crossed his arms. “You’re one of the strongest Trainers I’ve ever met. Ever. That includes Leon and Hop. I would definitely have remembered battling you.”

“Well then,” she said, voice almost a giggle, “that explains it. We never battled.”

“Wait,” he blurted, as she walked towards the sinks, “so we did meet, then?”

She grabbed a pair of heavy rubber gloves and a scrub brush. “Yeah, we did. I thought you’d recognize me as soon as I walked into the cafe last week.”

Raihan moved to lean against the fridge next to the sinks. “Is that why you looked so nervous?”

Lori washed at least a dozen mugs, teacups and saucers, and plates, setting them on a rack in the right sink to dry. Her hands were quick and strong, her face neutral with only a tiny hint of stress.

“I don’t know why I’m even telling you things like this,” she finally said. “My life is finally stable.”

“Stable? With a boss who threatens to fire you for needing crutches? For fuck’s sake, Lori. That’s not stability.”

Lori glared at him – truly glared. “I don’t need or want a white knight running in to save me or fix me, okay? It’s my life. Let me handle it.” She dropped the mug into the drying rack with a crash. “It’s a lot better than it was before.”

Raihan snapped his mouth shut and fumed. Seriously? He was trying to help, not – not fix, or save, or.... He stole a glance at her. Her shoulders curled forward and she looked... defeated. Exhausted. Maybe a little sad. He swallowed hard; an ache followed, spreading from the underside of his jaw down to his sternum.

Uninvited help probably felt a lot like unwelcome saving or fixing, to her.

“Then what do you want me to do?” he asked.

She sighed, pulling off the gloves and walking up to him. His fingers curled against his sides where he had tucked them under his elbows. They itched to see if her hair was really as soft as it looked.

“I don’t know. What did you want to do? Why do you have to do anything?”

He swallowed hard again. “I don’t know. You’re familiar. I’ll give you that, if we’ve met before. You’re amazing in battle. I don’t... I guess I don’t have to do anything, but I want to do something. I’ll figure it out eventually.”

Lori looked away, cheeks faintly pink, absently nodding like any of that made sense.

“Right now, I should probably get going before your awful boss sees me hanging out with you back here,” Raihan added.

She laughed. “Probably, yeah.” Her head dipped down as her eyes flicked to the floor. “I’ll miss you, though. You’re leaving soon, right?”

He gave her a weak smile. “Wednesday. I’ll see you before I leave.”

“I have Wednesday off.”

Well... shit. Raihan had finally let Leon talk him into challenging his way up the Battle Tower, just for kicks, and that was tomorrow, and he couldn’t flake out after seven years, but...

“Can I give you my number, then? So you can call me if you’re ever in Hammerlocke.”

Lori tilted her head again. “Only if I’m in Hammerlocke?”

Her eyes were intense, and he was once more hit with the feeling that he knew them in some significant way.

He inhaled, held it, and exhaled with a shudder. “No. Not only.”

She smiled and blushed and ducked her head, walking away quickly to grab a pen and paper. He scrawled his number and folded it up. Her hands were warm as they brushed over his. He leaned closer, and she lifted her chin.

“Am I reading this wrong?” he asked, voice barely above a murmur.

She shook her head and let her eyelids droop. “I always thought you were attractive.”

He leaned the rest of the way, pressing a kiss to her cheek, just barely brushing the corner of her mouth. “I’ll figure you out,” he whispered, relishing the small laugh she gave him.

“I believe you,” she said. “It’s... a lot for me to think about. A lot to figure out for myself.”

“Will you tell me about it when you’re ready?” He shifted his hands to cup hers. “I... I guess what I want is to understand you.”

She leaned back and looked up at him, eyes bright. “I will.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me outside of AO3 on any of these sites:
> 
> tumblr: [amairawrites](https://amairawrites.tumblr.com)  
> twitter: [amairawrites1](https://twitter.com/amairawrites1)  
> pillowfort: [amaira](https://www.pillowfort.social/amaira)


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